1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to belts for machinery useful for desinewing food products such as meat, poultry and fish.
2. Description of the Related Art
The food processing industry must deal with the problem of separating meat from bones as efficiently as possible. Obtaining meat from the desinewing process that is still raw is far more valuable than obtaining the meat cooked. Raw meat has a substantially higher binding capacity than does cooked meat. Food processors define binding capacity as the ability of meat to form a stable mixture with added fat, water and salt.
Numerous ways have been developed to accomplish the desinewing process with the meat being maintained in the raw state until it is processed at a later stage. U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,190, issued to Eslinger et al. on Jul. 20, 1971, which claims tumbling the meat laden with bones in a drum with a salt brine mixture to remove the bones from the meat. This reference includes a comprehensive yet concise review of the primary techniques for recovering meat from bones.
One class of mechanical devices uses a belt driven mechanism. Representative of this type is U.S. Pat. No. 3,142,860, issued to Churchill on Aug. 4, 1964, which discloses a belt having yieldable frusto-conical projections that engage a platen having frusto-conical projections. When the food to be processed is passed between the belt and platen, the projections tend to shred and remove the meat from the bones.
One widely used mechanical method is the use of a rotating perforated drum and belt apparatus such as manufactured by BAADER food processing machinery. This method of mechanical separation permits a wide range of applications from beef legs to fish. The food to be processed is drawn between the perforated drum and the squeezing belt. The food is subjected to increasing pressure causing the meat to be move into the perforated drum. The hard material such as bones and other sinew are discarded. The recovered desinewed meat is discharged from the drum via an endless screw arrangement.
The advantages of this system are many. The meat is neither ground nor crushed, nor exposed to any thermal load. By selecting different drum sizes, belt sizes and mechanical or hydraulic power appropriately, this type of machine is highly versatile.
The prime difficulty with this type of machine is the belt. The belt serves as the mechanical carrier of the food to be processed to the drum. The belt also provides the pressure which keeps the food product in contact with the rotating drum as the soft material is scraped off, leaving the bone and sinew behind. A typical belt is rubber covered having internal support plies which are also rubber covered and fabric based. The life expectancy of this type of belt is quite short, making frequent replacement necessary.